Keyword research is the basis of any SEO marketing campaign and marketing through it. Without it, SEO optimizers, marketers, and webmasters may haphazardly create content without any real commercial justification.
What are keywords and is keyword research still important for SEO in general in 2023?
Answer: yes!
In this article, you will learn about 5 reasons why keyword research is important for SEO. At the end of the article, we will share some powerful keyword research tips that you can follow when doing your own keyword research.
Definition of keywords
Before we can determine why keyword research is important for SEO, we must first clearly define what keywords are in the search.
Keyword research is the process of discovering common words and phrases that people type into a search engine to find the information they are looking for.
An example of keywords
If you have a personal training business, keyword research will help you discover marketing keywords such as: “chest exercises for men, Best Exercises for fat loss”, etc.
Keywords in the search should be the first step that all webmasters and marketers follow when creating new content for a website or client.
Based on the above, let's discuss why keyword research is important for any SEO marketing campaign.
Why keyword research is important for SEO?
With so many different areas of SEO optimization such as Core Web Vitals and backlinks. And getting more public attention it's easy to forget the importance of keyword research in the importance of SEO.
But here are five reasons why every SEO optimizer and marketer needs to prioritize keyword research when creating content or starting a new SEO campaign.
1-Find what people are looking for online
When doing keyword research, the creator is able to get the inside scoop on what people are looking for online.
This information is key because it gives creators instant feedback on whether or not a content idea is worth spending time and resources on.
Basically, you want to create content-targeted keywords that people are already using to find information online.
It's no use creating content based on what you think your target audience is looking for.
2-Understanding the competitive environment
Keyword research allows SEO service providers to understand the competitive landscape by giving them a clear picture of who they are competing against.
Example
Let's say you have an idea for a piece of content that you would like to produce. By performing proper keyword research you will be able to find out which domains are already competing for the keyword (s) in question.
Keyword research gives insights into how difficult or easy it is to rank at the top of the first page of Google and other search engine search results.
This brings us to the next reason why keyword research is important for SEO.
3-identify low competition content opportunities
When doing keyword research, you will be able to search for content opportunities with low competition.
By targeting keywords with low competition. The odds of your content attracting more visitors and traffic to your website through search engines will increase.
The reverse is also true, keyword research will reveal words that you should avoid targeting because of the specific domains for which they have already been categorized.
Most keyword tools can be used to find low-competition words and weed out high-competition ones.
Example
Let's say you want to search for content opportunities based on the keyword phrase “free keyword research tools“.
According to the special keyword tool SEOptimer there is an “average” competition for this word.
Remember that you want to target low-competition keywords, so instead, you can create content specifically aimed at “free SEO keyword research tools” that have a “low” level of competition.
4-understand the research objective
Google's main task is to “systematize information about the world and make it useful and accessible to everyone“.
Google does this by providing the most relevant results for each search query.
So if you want to top the search results you should create the most relevant content that corresponds to the search intent.
So by understanding the search intent of a query, you'll be able to create content that matches why people use the keyword to find the information they're looking for.
Keyword research helps you understand the intent of searching for the target keyword (s).
By typing the target keyword in Google search you will be able to see the results that appear.
This can give a good indication of which results in Google considers most relevant to the query and target keywords.
Example
Let's imagine that you would like to create some content that targets the keyword phrase “landing page builder“.
By searching for this in Google you will be able to see what the competing results look like to get a better understanding of the search intent.
By looking at the search engine results page for this keyword phrase, you will notice that all the competing domains are landing page builder tools and the intention is mainly directed toward people who are looking for software that can help them create landing pages.
So unless you're promoting a tool that can build landing pages, you probably want to avoid targeting this specific phrase.
Nevertheless. If you want to create informative blog content that compares the best landing page builders.
You can also target the keyword “best landing page builders” instead.
5-helps create new content ideas
The last reason why keyword research is important for SEO is that it helps in creating new content ideas.
Sometimes it can be difficult to think of new content ideas for your blog.
Fortunately, most keyword research tools can be used to find new keyword marketing and content ideas.
By getting into the range of your competitors. And you can find all the keywords on their site that they are currently ranked based on.
Once you have created a list of all the keywords you found, you can get rid of those with low search volume and high competition.
Read more about 7 Secrets to Increase Website Traffic Secrets from Popular Blogs Click Here
Know the types of keywords
Before we give you some keyword research tips, let's briefly discuss the two main types of them, namely long and short keywords.
Keywords for long-tail marketing
Long-tail keywords can be classified as key phrases of 5 words or more. And an example of a long-tailed keyword: “what is bad food for dogs".
Targeting long-tail keywords is a great way to gradually increase SEO traffic because the level of competition for these keywords is much lower compared to those with a short tail.
Moreover, the conversion rates for these keywords are higher, because they are used by researchers who are looking for specific information, products, or services.
Short-tailed keywords
The short-tailed keywords are exactly as their name describes.
These keywords are usually between one and two words long. An example of a short-tailed keyword is “dog food".
If you do some keyword research on this topic, you will notice that the competition for this keyword and the search volume is much higher than the long-tailed keyword “what is bad food for dogs“.
Due to the high level of competition for this keyword. It will be very difficult to rank them in the search results, requiring a lot of time and resources.
Specification of short-tailed words
Another thing to note regarding short-tail keywords is that these terms are very general and usually not targeted.
This means that the conversion rates for these keywords are not as high as those for long-tail keywords.
In general, marketers and content creators should stay away from targeting short-tailed keywords, especially if the brand is not a large market player with an already established reputation.
Keyword research tips
Here are some tips on keyword research that you need to take into account:
Adding keyword groups on a single page
Keyword groups can be defined as a set of closely related, but not completely identical, words.
An example of a keyword set is:
- Search engine optimization (SEO) tools for e-commerce websites.
- Search engine optimization (SEO) tools for online stores.
- Search engine optimization (SEO) software for online shops.
As you can see, these keywords are very similar in definition, but they use different words. It would not be a good idea to create individual pieces of content that specifically target each of these keywords, as this can lead to keyword disassembly.
Instead, the creator should add all the relevant keywords to one part of the content.
Have a look at Google's suggested phrases
Keyword research tools are essential for finding content opportunities. But webmasters should not neglect keyword research in ”Google” to discover the gems of keywords.
More specifically, the Google Suggest service can be a great place to find long keywords that are commonly used to find information online.
Find frequently asked questions
The “people also ask” section of Google is another part of the search engine results page. Which you can take a look at when doing keyword research.
This section reveals the questions asked by Google users.
By answering these questions or creating content based on these questions, you can reach people who are looking for answers to these questions.
In conclusion, keyword research is a crucial aspect of any successful digital marketing strategy. It helps businesses understand what their target audience is searching for and the keywords they use to find information online.
By identifying relevant keywords, businesses can optimize their website and content to rank higher in search engine results and attract more organic traffic.
Additionally, keyword research provides valuable insights into the competition and helps businesses stay ahead of the curve in terms of trends and search behavior.
To be effective, keyword research should be a continuous process and regularly updated to reflect changes in the market and audience preferences.